Israeli reserve troops gather at Gaza border

Israel intensified its land offensive in Gaza with artillery, tanks and gunboats and warned it could ''significantly widen'' their offensive against the Hamas armed wing. Jillian Kitchener reports.

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Tension spikes near the Gaza border, as Israel battles Hamas fighters.
It's here that Israeli reserve troops gather in an effort to step up their ground offensive, with artillery, tanks and gunboats.
Israel says it's adding 18,000 reservists to the 30,000 already mobilized.
(SOUNDNBITE) (Hebrew) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU SAYING:
"My instructions and the defense minister's to the army, with the approval of the security cabinet, is to prepare for the possibility of a widening, a significant widening of the ground operation, and the chief of staff and the Israeli army are prepared accordingly."
This comes a day after at least 27 Palestinians were killed, according to Palestinian health officials, when Israel's infantry and tank assault began in the Gaza Strip.
As Palestinians drape Hamas flags over their victims and hail them as martyrs, a Hamas spokesman says Israel must pay.
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HAMAS SPOKESMAN IN GAZA, SAMI ABU ZUHRI, SAYING:
"Netanyahu is killing our children and he will pay the price, the Israeli offensive does not fear the leaders in Hamas or the Palestinian people and we in Hamas guarantee that the occupation army will sink in the mud of Gaza."
But Netanyahu says their actions come after Hamas continued to fire hundreds of rockets their way, despite an Egyptian-backed ceasefire proposal.

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